WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Action Comics #1002, by Brian Michael Bendis, Patrick Gleason, Alejandro Sanchez, and Josh Reed, out now.
The opening page of this week's Action Comics #1002 may have given us the biggest indication yet that the current DC Universe is catching up with the events depicted in the pages of Watchmen sorta-sequel, Doomsday Clock.
Doomsday Clock, as you're likely aware, is a 12-part series from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank that explores the aftermath of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' seminal Watchmen series from 1986, while introducing characters from that series into the main DC Universe. It was initially stated by Johns that the events of Doomsday Clock are happening one year into the future of the DC Rebirth continuity, and that current comics would slowly catch up to the events of that series. Until now, it’s kept itself apart from other comics thanks to this time difference, but an in the latest issue of Action Comics may have given us proof that the future depicted in Doomsday Clock is closer than we think.
RELATED: Doomsday Clock: It Looks Like the Supermen Theory May Be Fake News
The opening splash page of Action Comics #1002 -- by Brian Bendis and Patrick Gleason -- shows us the extremely untidy desk of Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. The workspace of Superman’s mild-mannered alter ego is littered with post-it notes, which, in true Bendis fashion, contain Easter eggs, in-jokes and teasers. Some of them mention fellow comics creators like John Byrne, Frank Miller and Jim Lee, some are fun little jokes (“Reminder! Return Bruce’s wedding gift”) and some are references to the ongoing story in Action Comics (Fire Chief Melody Moore’s telephone number).
But one of those notes, presumably written by Kent as a reminder to himself, asks a seemingly simple question: What is the “Superman” Theory? Somewhat innocuous in itself, this is the note that nods to the events of Doomsday Clock.
What is the “Superman” Theory?
Like Watchmen, each issue of Doomsday Clock is packed with back matter -- articles and fake news stories that flesh out the plot in various ways, beyond that which is seen in the comic’s narrative. In Doomsday Clock #2, the back matter is an online news report from The Bulletin, which discusses the rising global tensions thanks to the “Supermen Theory,” a school of thought which posits that the reason that America has so many metahumans is because of government-sponsored programs creating superheroes and villains.
RELATED: Doomsday Clock’s Backmatter Holds Important Clues About the DCU’s Future
The “Supermen Theory” was, this news story tells us, first coined by an international team of scientists struggling to determine why the United States has such a high concentration of metahumans. Documents leaked to the investigators concern Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho (currently seen in The Terrifics). It’s claimed that the accident that created Metamorpho at Stagg Industries happened under government contract, leading to speculation that Mason’s transformation into Metamorpho was no accident at all.
The Bulletin goes on to tell us that this discovery leads to a snowball effect of new information regarding metahuman creation, with no less than three of Mason’s foes coming forward to claim that they too were granted superpowers by the Government, in order to provide believable villains for Metamorpho as part of an ongoing “Superhero narrative” that would cover up any Government involvement. The "Supermen Theory" leads to mass protests and global mistrust of superheroes and plays a big part in the growing backstory to Doomsday Clock.
RELATED: Doomsday Clock: Gary Frank Teases Superman/Doctor Manhattan Encounter
The post-it note on Clark Kent’s desk in Action Comics #1002 would seem to indicate that this igniting catalyst of the unrest in Doomsday Clock has quietly become a part of current continuity. While it seems nothing more than one of a hundred things that Clark wants to look into at the moment, it surely won’t be long until those tensions seen in Doomsday Clock begin to spread across the entire DC Universe.